thanks for the thoughts. i hope the 2010 G37 Vert comes out in the next couple of months (my 335Ci is up in April) with the higher resolution screen. i will surely miss having the iDrive knob within grasp while keeping my eyes on the road. i don't like that Infiniti has all those buttons and a similar knob in front of the monitor. any thoughts on Infiniti Navi/BT/ipod interface?

and yes i would get the G37 conv with black exterior, stone interior. i probably wouldn't get the S (or sport pkg) because i wouldn't want to sacrafice the cooling seat function!

When I got my G37, I thought the interface was much better than iDrive. I haven't driven a newer model 335i to really compare the updates and changes to iDrive. As for the Navigation controls, I don't mind the knob itself, but the placement is the problem. It is a long reach and you might even have to lean forward a bit if you have shorter arms. I think the interface is fairly intuitive and you can reach many controls with a single button press. So I guess it's a trade-off between a clean look but hierarchical inputs or a more flat menu system with more buttons.

I think the bluetooth works great and I appreciate being able to control the ipod through the Nav, and have the menus be sortable just like the ipod. I also use the steering wheel controls and voice activation for many phone and navigation controls. The only thing I really use the knob for is the ipod.

So can't really compare to the new iDrive since I haven't used it. But at the time (2.5 years ago), I felt the G37 had the best interface on an entry level luxury car. With the updated interfaces, higher res TFTs, etc - that very well may no longer be the case.

Sounds like a good combo - I have a Black G37 and I think is far and away the best color - probably even more so with a vert. With the stone interior and cooled seats that would help out a lot with AZ heat, too. That hardtop is pretty heavy though so as long as you don't mind the performance hit, then I don't think the S makes a huge difference either.